An Extraordinary Life Drawing Event: Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School
As a bar full of artists capture her likeness, Linda Loo lip-syncs to a favorite song from this evening’s 50’s soundtrack. Loo sits on a park bench, red plaid converse resting on a vintage tandem bicycle. Fellow model Sarah Burntheart sits to Loo’s right, classic coca cola bottle in hand. Once a month, Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School transforms New Haven’s Café Nine into an extraordinary life drawing event. Complete with burlesque dancers, intricate scenery, creative costumes, affordable entrance fee, lively music, contests, witty emcees and of course, all the booze you can afford, Dr. Sketchy’s is an experience unlike any other.
Unless you attend a Dr. Sketchy’s event in another city. What began in Brooklyn in 2005 by illustrator Molly Crabapple has spread to 80 cities worldwide, reaching 4 continents with over 100 participating branches. Once a nude model herself, Crabapple hoped to offer a spicy and affordable alternative to the usual sterile atmosphere she tired of during formal drawing sessions. This February’s event, Tandem Tootsies or Babes on Bikes, saw New Haven into its eighth edition of Dr. Sketchy, which, aside from a brief hiatus, has been running every month for a year. And who, you might ask, do we have to thank?
Polly Sonic recalls bringing Dr. Sketchy to New Haven after she was unable to find affordable life drawing opportunities in town. Also an illustrator, Polly points to Crabapple as a real inspiration. Sonic explains that her “main mission is to get more participatory events in New Haven for artists and non-artists” and she has certainly spearheaded quite a few. Between working in Yale Drama School’s costume department, illustrating children’s books and being a puppeteer, Polly Sonic, a.k.a. Linda Wingerter, somehow finds the time to organize a go-go dancing troupe, roller durance club, circus/fire eating happenings, street performances and of course, monthly Dr. Sketchys. Polly’s hope is that the event will be a place for artists, and those who don’t think they are, to come together and socialize. Virtually all art forms and skill levels are welcomed and artists come equipped with anything from charcoal to Crayola crayons to pencils to watercolors and even Wacom tablets.
This February’s models, Linda Loo and Sarah Burntheart are members of the Pink Cycle Skirt Team and posed to raise money for their 50K bike ride for Multiple Sclerosis in May. In charge of both costumes and scenery, the duo put on quite a show. “It’s a theatrical production,” commented Loo. From the half eaten plastic chicken and classic coco cola bottles to the fake butterflies pinned to a blue sheet sky, every detail added to the 50’s pin-up girl theme of the evening. Past Sketchy events include themes such as New World Old World: a Thanksgiving extravaganza, Holiday Breakout: a jailhouse rock holiday and Queen of the Night: Dot Mitzvah posing 7 months pregnant.
Whether an artist or not, you will surely find Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School entertaining to say the least. Polly Sonic and her team which includes Tony Baloney Juliano, Dot Mitzvah, Phil Matz, Mike Franzman and Rev Al Mighty encourage fun above all else. A painter from New Britain expressed, “It’s a good time. How many other places do you get to draw and drink at the same time?” And who knows? You may even create a masterpiece by the end of the evening! Dr. Sketchy’s is certainly a unique experience. One that should not be missed and one that this artist looks forward to attending again in the future.
To find out more about Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School, please visit sketchynewhaven.blogspot.com
